Attention-based trading display for providing user-centric information updates

ABSTRACT

A system, method, and non-transitory computer-readable information recording medium displays information to a user. Market data having a first portion and a second portion is displayed on a display unit of a trading device. A user focus area is detected, at the trading device. The user focus area is associated with one of the first and second portions of the market data. A first priority is assigned to the one of the first and second portions of the market data and a second priority is assigned to another one of the first and second portions of the market data. The first priority is higher than the second priority. The market data in the first and second portions is updated as a function of the first and second priorities, respectively.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/683,514, filed Aug. 22, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,101,808, which isa continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/934,785, filed Jul. 3,2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,772,685, the contents of each of which arehereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. This application alsorelates to U.S. application Ser. No. 16/022,036, filed Jun. 28, 2018,which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/473,867, filedAug. 29, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,037,079, which is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 13/969,496, filed Aug. 16, 2013, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,854,302, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/478,889, filed May 23, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,547,330, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/872,617, filed Jun. 21,2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,232,962.

BACKGROUND

An electronic trading system generally includes a trading device incommunication with an electronic exchange. The electronic exchange sendsinformation about a market, such as prices and quantities, to thetrading device. The trading device sends messages, such as messagesrelated to orders, to the electronic exchange. The electronic exchangeattempts to match quantity of an order with quantity of one or morecontra-side orders.

The exchange is a central marketplace with established rules andregulations where buyers and sellers meet to trade. Some exchanges,referred to as open outcry exchanges, operate using a trading floorwhere buyers and sellers physically meet on the floor to trade. Otherexchanges, referred to as electronic exchanges, operate by an electronicor telecommunications network instead of a trading floor to facilitatetrading in an efficient, versatile, and functional manner. Electronicexchanges have made it possible for an increasing number of people toactively participate in a market at any given time. The increase in thenumber of potential market participants has advantageously led to, amongother things, a more competitive market and greater liquidity.

With respect to electronic exchanges, buyers and sellers may logon to anelectronic exchange trading platform by way of a communication linkthrough their user terminals or trading device. Once connected, buyersand sellers may typically choose which tradeable objects they wish totrade. As used herein, the term “tradeable object” refers to anythingthat can be traded with a quantity and/or price. It includes, but is notlimited to, all types of traded events, goods and/or financial products,which can include, for example, stocks, options, bonds, futures,currency, and warrants, as well as funds, derivatives and collections ofthe foregoing, and all types of commodities, such as grains, energy, andmetals. The tradeable object may be “real,” such as products that arelisted by an exchange for trading, or “synthetic”, such as a combinationof real products that is created by the user. A tradeable object couldactually be a combination of other tradeable objects, such as a class oftradeable objects.

To profit in electronic markets, successful market participants oftenassimilate large amounts of data in order to recognize market trends andto view current market conditions. Screen space is an important factorfor a trader to consider when setting up a trading workstation, sincethe screen space directly affects the trader's ability to quickly viewand process market data. Many traders use one large monitor running at avery high resolution in an effort to get the maximum amount of data ontothe screen. However, in today's information-intensive markets, to besuccessful, traders often need to simultaneously view multiple tradinginterfaces, charts, industry news, spreadsheets, as well as otherinformation. Since each application-created interface has at least onewindow, a single monitor does not allow a trader to simultaneously viewdata on multiple windows, and the time it takes the trader to flipbetween the windows does not make the single monitor the most optimaltrading workspace solution.

Therefore, many traders use multiple monitors to avoid flipping from onewindow to another, and to efficiently view all windows simultaneously.However, traders with multiple monitors can actually only look closelyat one monitor at a time. Although the human peripheral field of visionis approximately 180°, the field of foveal vision (the region of thevisual field where the user has the greatest visual activity) isapproximately 2°. Therefore, a trader can only attend to a small part ofeach display at any one point in time.

The use of a large monitor or multiple monitors allows a tremendousamount of data to be displayed at any one time. Typically, such data iscontinuously being delivered from the exchange to the trading device.The data may be displayed directly, as soon as it is beingdelivered/received or the data may be filtered, e.g., coalesced orfiltered, prior to being displayed at the trading device. Therefore, allof the data being transmitted and received at the trading device, mustbe processed and displayed, even if the trader is not looking at theportion of the display(s) which is displaying most of the data.Furthermore, of the data that is coalesced or filtered prior todisplaying on the trading device, all of the data is coalesced, orotherwise filtered, and displayed, even if the trader is not looking atthe portion of the display(s) which is displaying the filtered data.

The present invention is aimed at one or more of the problems identifiedabove.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Certain embodiments are disclosed with reference to the followingdrawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram representative of an exampleelectronic trading system in which certain embodiments may be employed.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of another example electronic tradingsystem in which certain embodiments may be employed.

FIG. 3A illustrates a block diagram of an example computing device whichmay be used to implement the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 3B illustrates a second block diagram of a computing or tradingdevice according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4A is a first illustration of a user or trader and a display unithaving a plurality of display devices, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4B is an illustration of a user or trader and the display unit ofFIG. 4A.

FIG. 5A is a first illustration of a display unit including a pluralityof portion areas, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5B is a first illustration of a display unit including a pluralityof portion areas, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5C is a second illustration of the display unit of FIG. 5B.

FIG. 5D is a third illustration of the display unit of FIG. 5B.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

Certain embodiments will be better understood when read in conjunctionwith the provided figures, which illustrate examples. It should beunderstood, however, that the embodiments are not limited to thearrangements and instrumentality shown in the attached figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates generally to a computer system which isused to electronically perform trades on an exchange, and moreparticularly, to a system which electronically tracks a focus of theuser of the computer system and prioritizes the updating of theinformation displayed on one or more display units of the computersystem based on the tracked focus.

In one aspect of the present invention, the user's focus is detected andused to define a user focus area on the display unit. The market data isseparated into first and second portion. The portion of the data whichis being displayed in the user focus area is defined as the firstportion of the market data. The market data displayed in the otherportion of the display unit is defined as a second portion of the marketdata. The first portion of the data, which is displayed in the userfocus area, is updated based on a first priority and according to anassociated first schedule. The second portion of the data, which isdisplayed in a second area of the display, is updated based on a secondpriority and according to an associated second schedule.

For instance, the first and second schedules may determine (1) how oftenthe display of the corresponding data is updated on the display unit and(2) the period over which the data is coalesced (or condensed). Forexample, price information for a particular article or object mayinclude a parameter associated with the object's current price, as wellas a differential from a previous update or period of time. The firstand second schedules may determine not only how often the display isupdated, but may include how often the differential is calculated ateither, for example, the exchange or one or more of the individualtrading devices.

Although this description discloses embodiments including, among othercomponents, software executed on hardware, it should be noted that theembodiments are merely illustrative and should not be considered aslimiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or all of thesehardware and software components may be embodied exclusively inhardware, exclusively in software, exclusively in firmware, or in anycombination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Accordingly, certainembodiments may be implemented in other ways.

I. Brief Description of Certain Embodiments

In a first aspect of the present invention, a method of displayinginformation to a user is provided. The method includes the steps ofdisplaying market data on a display unit of a trading device anddetecting, at the trading device, a user focus area of the display unit.The market data has a first portion and second portion. The user focusarea is associated with one of the first and second portions of themarket data and another one of the first and second portions of themarket data being associated with a second area of the display unit. Themethod includes the step of assigning a first priority to the one of thefirst and second portions of the market data and a second priority toanother one of the first and second portions of the market data. Thefirst priority is higher than the second priority. The method furtherincludes the steps of updating the market data in the one of the firstand second portions, and which is being displayed the user focus area,as a function of the first priority and an associated first schedule andupdating the market data in the another one of the first and secondportions, and which is being displayed in the second area, as a functionof the second priority and an associated second schedule.

In a second aspect of the present invention, a system including anexchange and a trading device is provided. The exchange for providesmarket data to the trading device. The trading device is coupled to theexchange and is configured to receive and display the market data on adisplay unit. The market data has a first portion and second portion.The trading device is configured to:

-   -   detect, a user focus area of the display unit, wherein the user        focus area is associated with one of the first and second        portions of the market data and another one of the first and        second portions of the market data being associated with a        second area of the display unit;    -   assign a first priority to the one of the first and second        portions of the market data and a second priority to another one        of the first and second portions of the market data, wherein the        first priority is higher than the second priority; and,    -   update the market data in the one of the first and second        portions and displayed the user focus area as a function of the        first priority and an associated first schedule and update the        market data in the another one of the first and second portions        and being displayed the second area, as a function of the second        priority and an associated second schedule.

In a third aspect of the present invention, a non-transitorycomputer-readable information recording medium which stores a programfor controlling a computer to perform trade orders and trade orderverification at an exchange is provided. The program is configured tooperate the computer as a:

a trading device configured to receive and display the market data on adisplay unit, the market data having a first portion and second portion,the trading device being configured to:

-   -   detect, a user focus area of the display unit, wherein the user        focus area is associated with one of the first and second        portions of the market data and another one of the first and        second portions of the market data being associated with a        second area of the display unit;    -   assign a first priority to the one of the first and second        portions of the market data and a second priority to another one        of the first and second portions of the market data, wherein the        first priority is higher than the second priority; and,    -   update the market data in the one of the first and second        portions and displayed the user focus area as a function of the        first priority and an associated first schedule and update the        market data in the another one of the first and second portions        and being displayed the second area, as a function of the second        priority and an associated second schedule.

II. Example Electronic Trading System

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram representative of an exampleelectronic trading system 100 in which certain embodiments may beemployed. The system 100 includes a trading device 110, a gateway 120,and an exchange 130. The trading device 110 is in communication with thegateway 120. The gateway 120 is in communication with the exchange 130.As used herein, the phrase “in communication” encompasses directcommunication and/or indirect communication through one or moreintermediary components. The exemplary electronic trading system 100depicted in FIG. 1 may be in communication with additional components,subsystems, and elements to provide additional functionality andcapabilities without departing from the teaching and disclosure providedherein.

In operation, the trading device 110 may receive market data from theexchange 130 through the gateway 120. A user may utilize the tradingdevice 110 to monitor this market data and/or base a decision to send anorder message to buy or sell one or more tradeable objects to theexchange 130.

Market data may include data about a market for a tradeable object. Forexample, market data may include the inside market, market depth, lasttraded price (“LTP”), a last traded quantity (“LTQ”), or a combinationthereof. The inside market is the lowest available ask price (bestoffer) and the highest available bid price (best bid) in the market fora particular tradable object at a particular point in time (since theinside market may vary over time). Market depth refers to quantitiesavailable at the inside market and at other prices away from the insidemarket. Due to the quantity available, there may be “gaps” in marketdepth.

A tradeable object is anything which may be traded. For example, acertain quantity of the tradeable object may be bought or sold for aparticular price. A tradeable object may include, for example, financialproducts, stocks, options, bonds, future contracts, currency, warrants,funds derivatives, securities, commodities, swaps, interest rateproducts, index-based products, traded events, goods, or a combinationthereof. A tradeable object may include a product listed and/oradministered by an exchange (for example, the exchange 130), a productdefined by the user, a combination of real or synthetic products, or acombination thereof. There may be a synthetic tradeable object thatcorresponds and/or is similar to a real tradeable object.

An order message is a message that includes a trade order. A trade ordermay be, for example, a command to place an order to buy or sell atradeable object, a command to initiate managing orders according to adefined trading strategy, a command to change or cancel a previouslysubmitted order (for example, modify a working order), an instruction toan electronic exchange relating to an order, or a combination thereof.

The trading device 110 may include one or more electronic computingplatforms. For example, the trading device 110 may include a desktopcomputer, hand-held device, laptop, server, a portable computing device,a trading terminal, an embedded trading system, a workstation, analgorithmic trading system such as a “black box” or “grey box” system,cluster of computers, or a combination thereof. As another example, thetrading device 110 may include a single or multi-core processor incommunication with a memory or other storage medium configured toaccessibly store one or more computer programs, applications, libraries,computer readable instructions, and the like, for execution by theprocessor.

As used herein, the phrases “configured to” and “adapted to” encompassthat an element, structure, or device has been modified, arranged,changed, or varied to perform a specific function or for a specificpurpose.

By way of example, the trading device 110 may be implemented as apersonal computer running a copy of X_TRADER®, an electronic tradingplatform provided by Trading Technologies International, Inc. ofChicago, Ill. (“Trading Technologies”). As another example, the tradingdevice 110 may be a server running a trading application providingautomated trading tools such as ADL™, AUTOSPREADER®, and/or AUTOTRADER™,also provided by Trading Technologies. In yet another example, thetrading device 110 may include a trading terminal in communication witha server, where collectively the trading terminal and the server are thetrading device 110.

The trading device 110 is generally owned, operated, controlled,programmed, configured, or otherwise used by a user. As used herein, thephrase “user” may include, but is not limited to, a human (for example,a trader), trading group (for example, group of traders), or anelectronic trading device (for example, an algorithmic trading system).One or more users may be involved in the ownership, operation, control,programming, configuration, or other use, for example.

The trading device 110 may include one or more trading applications. Asused herein, a trading application is an application that facilitates orimproves electronic trading. A trading application provides one or moreelectronic trading tools. For example, a trading application stored by atrading device may be executed to arrange and display market data in oneor more trading windows. In another example, a trading application mayinclude an automated spread trading application providing spread tradingtools. In yet another example, a trading application may include analgorithmic trading application that automatically processes analgorithm and performs certain actions, such as placing an order,modifying an existing order, deleting an order. In yet another example,a trading application may provide one or more trading screens. A tradingscreen may provide one or more trading tools that allow interaction withone or more markets. For example, a trading tool may allow a user toobtain and view market data, set order entry parameters, submit ordermessages to an exchange, deploy trading algorithms, and/or monitorpositions while implementing various trading strategies. The electronictrading tools provided by the trading application may always beavailable or may be available only in certain configurations oroperating modes of the trading application.

A trading application may include computer readable instructions thatare stored in a computer readable medium and executable by a processor.A computer readable medium may include various types of volatile andnon-volatile storage media, including, for example, random accessmemory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electricallyprogrammable read-only memory, electrically erasable read-only memory,flash memory, any combination thereof, or any other tangible datastorage device. As used herein, the term non-transitory or tangiblecomputer readable medium is expressly defined to include any type ofcomputer readable storage media and to exclude propagating signals.

One or more components or modules of a trading application may be loadedinto the computer readable medium of the trading device 110 from anothercomputer readable medium. For example, the trading application (orupdates to the trading application) may be stored by a manufacturer,developer, or publisher on one or more CDs or DVDs, which are thenloaded onto the trading device 110 or to a server from which the tradingdevice 110 retrieves the trading application. As another example, thetrading device 110 may receive the trading application (or updates tothe trading application) from a server, for example, via the Internet oran internal network. The trading device 110 may receive the tradingapplication or updates when requested by the trading device 110 (forexample, “pull distribution”) and/or un-requested by the trading device110 (for example, “push distribution”).

The trading device 110 may be adapted to send order messages. Forexample, the order messages may be sent to through the gateway 120 tothe exchange 130. As another example, the trading device 110 may beadapted to send order messages to a simulated exchange in a simulationenvironment which does not effectuate real-world trades.

The order messages may be sent at the request of a user. For example, atrader may utilize the trading device 110 to send an order message ormanually input one or more parameters for a trade order (for example, anorder price and/or quantity). As another example, an automated tradingtool provided by a trading application may calculate one or moreparameters for a trade order and automatically send the order message.In some instances, an automated trading tool may prepare the ordermessage to be sent but not actually send it without confirmation from auser.

An order message may be sent in one or more data packets or through ashared memory system. For example, an order message may be sent from thetrading device 110 to the exchange 130 through the gateway 120. Thetrading device 110 may communicate with the gateway 120 using a localarea network, a wide area network, a wireless network, a virtual privatenetwork, a T1 line, a T3 line, an integrated services digital network(“ISDN”) line, a point-of-presence, the Internet, and/or a shared memorysystem, for example.

The gateway 120 may include one or more electronic computing platforms.For example, the gateway 120 may implemented as one or more desktopcomputer, hand-held device, laptop, server, a portable computing device,a trading terminal, an embedded trading system, workstation with asingle or multi-core processor, an algorithmic trading system such as a“black box” or “grey box” system, cluster of computers, or anycombination thereof.

The gateway 120 may facilitate communication. For example, the gateway120 may perform protocol translation for data communicated between thetrading device 110 and the exchange 130. The gateway 120 may process anorder message received from the trading device 110 into a data formatunderstood by the exchange 130, for example. Similarly, the gateway 120may transform market data in an exchange-specific format received fromthe exchange 130 into a format understood by the trading device 110, forexample.

The gateway 120 may include a trading application, similar to thetrading applications discussed above, that facilitates or improveselectronic trading. For example, the gateway 120 may include a tradingapplication that tracks orders from the trading device 110 and updatesthe status of the order based on fill confirmations received from theexchange 130. As another example, the gateway 120 may include a tradingapplication that coalesces market data from the exchange 130 andprovides it to the trading device 110. In yet another example, thegateway 120 may include a trading application that provides riskprocessing, calculates implieds, handles order processing, handlesmarket data processing, or a combination thereof.

In general, the term “coalesce market data” refers to a filteringprocess in which the received data is modified in some manner prior tothe data being displayed on the trading device 110. The received marketdata may be filtered or modified, e.g., to fit the needs of thecontract, trade order, trading application, or focus area in which thedata is being displayed. For example, it may be desired to display achange in the market data over a specific time period. Or, it may bedesirable to update the data on a predetermined time cycle.

In certain embodiments, the gateway 120 communicates with the exchange130 using a local area network, a wide area network, a virtual privatenetwork, a T1 line, a T3 line, an ISDN line, a point-of-presence, theInternet, and/or a shared memory system, for example.

The exchange 130 may be owned, operated, controlled, or used by anexchange entity. Example exchange entities include the CME Group, theLondon International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, theIntercontinental Exchange, and Eurex. The exchange 130 may include anelectronic matching system, such as a computer, server, or othercomputing device, which is adapted to allow tradeable objects, forexample, offered for trading by the exchange, to be bought and sold. Theexchange 130 may include separate entities, some of which list and/oradminister tradeable objects and others which receive and match orders,for example. The exchange 130 may include an electronic communicationnetwork (“ECN”), for example.

The exchange 130 may be an electronic exchange. The exchange 130 isadapted to receive order messages and match contra-side trade orders tobuy and sell tradeable objects. Unmatched trade orders may be listed fortrading by the exchange 130. The trade orders may include trade ordersreceived from the trading device 110 or other devices in communicationwith the exchange 130, for example. For example, typically the exchange130 will be in communication with a variety of other trading devices(which may be similar to trading device 110) which also provide tradeorders to be matched.

The exchange 130 is adapted to provide market data. Market data may beprovided in one or more messages or data packets or through a sharedmemory system. For example, the exchange 130 may publish a data feed tosubscribing devices, such as the trading device 110 or gateway 120. Thedata feed may include market data.

The system 100 may include additional, different, or fewer components.For example, the system 100 may include multiple trading devices,gateways, and/or exchanges. In another example, the system 100 mayinclude other communication devices, such as middleware, firewalls,hubs, switches, routers, servers, exchange-specific communicationequipment, modems, security managers, and/or encryption/decryptiondevices.

III. Expanded Example Electronic Trading System

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of another example electronic tradingsystem 200 in which certain embodiments may be employed. In thisexample, a trading device 210 a is in communication with an exchange 230a through a gateway 220 a. The following discussion mainly focuses onthe trading device 210 a, gateway 220 a, and the exchange 230 a.However, the trading device 210 a may also be connected to andcommunicate with any number of gateways 220 n connected to exchanges 230n. The communication between the trading device 210 a and otherexchanges 230 n may be the same, similar, or different than thecommunication between the trading device 210 a and exchange 230 a.Generally, each exchange has its own preferred techniques and/or formatsfor communicating with a trading device, a gateway, the user, or anotherexchange.

The trading device 210 a, which may be similar to the trading device 110in FIG. 1, may include a server 212 a in communication with a tradingterminal 214 a. The server 212 a may be located geographically closer tothe gateway 220 a than the trading terminal 214 a. As a result, theserver 212 a latency benefits that are not afforded to the tradingterminal 214 a. In operation, the trading terminal 214 a may provide atrading screen to a user and communicate commands to the server 212 afor further processing. For example, a trading algorithm may be deployedto the server 212 a for execution based on market data. The server 212 amay execute the trading algorithm without further input from the user.In another example, the server 212 a may include a trading applicationproviding automated trading tools and communicate back to the tradingterminal 214 a. The trading device 210 a may include, additional,different, or fewer components.

The trading device 210 a may communicate with the gateway 220 a usingone or more communication networks. As used herein, a communicationnetwork is any network, including the Internet, which facilitates orenables communication between, for example, the trading device 210 a,the gateway 220 a and the exchange 230 a. For example, as shown in FIG.2, the trading device 210 a may communicate with the gateway 220 aacross a multicast communication network 202 a. The data on the network202 a may be logically separated by subject (for example, prices,orders, or fills). As a result, the server 212 a and trading terminal214 a can subscribe to and receive data (for example, data relating toprices, orders, or fills) depending on their individual needs.

The gateway 220 a, which may be similar to the gateway 120 of FIG. 1,may include a price server 222 a, order server 224 a, and fill server226 a. The gateway 220 a may include additional, different, or fewercomponents. The price server 222 a may process price data. Price dataincludes data related to a market for one or more tradeable objects. Theorder server 224 a may process order data. Order data is data related toa user's trade orders. For example, order data may include ordermessages, confirmation messages, or other types of messages. The fillserver 226 a collects and provides fill data. Fill data includes datarelating to one or more fills of trade orders. For example, the fillserver 226 a may provide a record of trade orders, which have beenrouted through the order server 224 a, that have and have not beenfilled. The servers 222 a, 224 a, 226 a may run on the same machine orseparate machines.

The gateway 220 a may communicate with the exchange 230 a using one ormore communication networks. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, there maybe two communication networks connecting the gateway 220 a and theexchange 230 a. The network 204 a may be used to communicate market datato the price server 222 a. In some instances, the exchange 230 a mayinclude this data in a data feed that is published to subscribingdevices. The network 206 a may be used to communicate order data.

The exchange 230 a, which may be similar to the exchange 130 of FIG. 1,may include an order book 232 a and a matching engine 234 a. Theexchange 230 a may include additional, different, or fewer components.The order book 232 a is a database that includes data relating tounmatched quantity of trade orders. For example, an order book 232 a mayinclude data relating to a market for a tradeable object, such as theinside market, market depth at various price levels, the last tradedprice, and the last traded quantity. The matching engine 234 a may matchcontra-side bids and offers. For example, the matching engine 234 a mayexecute one or more matching algorithms that match contra-side bids andoffers. A sell order is contra-side to a buy order with the same price.Similarly, a buy order is contra-side to a sell order with the sameprice.

In operation, the exchange 230 a may provide price data from the orderbook 232 a to the price server 222 a and order data and/or fill datafrom the matching engine 234 a to the order server 224 a. Servers 222 a,224 a, 226 a may translate and communicate this data back to the tradingdevice 210 a. The trading device 210 a, for example, using a tradingapplication, may process this data. For example, the data may bedisplayed to a user. In another example, the data may be utilized in atrading algorithm to determine whether a trade order should be submittedto the exchange 230 a. The trading device 210 a may prepare and send anorder message to the exchange 230 a.

In certain embodiments, the gateway 220 a is part of the trading device210 a. For example, the components of the gateway 220 a may be part ofthe same computing platform as the trading device 210 a. As anotherexample, the functionality of the gateway 220 a may be performed bycomponents of the trading device 210 a. In certain embodiments, thegateway 220 a is not present. Such an arrangement may occur when thetrading device 210 a does not need to utilize the gateway 220 a tocommunicate with the exchange 230 a, for example. For example, if thetrading device 210 a has been adapted to communicate directly with theexchange 230 a.

Additional trading devices 210 b-210 e, which are similar to tradingdevice 210 a, may be connected to one or more of the gateways 220 a-220n and exchanges 230 a-230 n. Furthermore, additional gateways, similarto the gateway 220 a, may be in communication with multiple exchanges,similar to the exchange 230 a. Each gateway may be in communication withone or more different exchanges, for example. Such an arrangement may,for example, allow one or more trading devices 210 a to trade at morethan one exchange (and/or provide redundant connections to multipleexchanges).

IV. Example Computing Device

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example computing device 300which may be used to implement the disclosed embodiments. The tradingdevice 110 of FIG. 1 may include one or more computing devices 300, forexample. The gateway 120 of FIG. 1 may include one or more computingdevices 300, for example. The exchange 130 of FIG. 1 may include one ormore computing devices 300, for example.

The computing device 300 includes a communication network 310, aprocessor 312, a memory 314, an interface 316, an input device 318, andan output device 320. The computing device 300 may include additional,different, or fewer components. For example, multiple communicationnetworks, multiple processors, multiple memory, multiple interfaces,multiple input devices, multiple output devices, or any combinationthereof, may be provided. As another example, the computing device 300may not include an input device 318 or output device 320.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the computing device 300 may include a processor312 coupled to a communication network 310. The communication network310 may include a communication bus, channel, electrical or opticalnetwork, circuit, switch, fabric, or other mechanism for communicatingdata between components in the computing device 300. The communicationnetwork 310 may be communicatively coupled with and transfer databetween any of the components of the computing device 300.

The processor 312 may be any suitable processor, processing unit, ormicroprocessor. The processor 312 may include one or more generalprocessors, digital signal processors, application specific integratedcircuits, field programmable gate arrays, analog circuits, digitalcircuits, programmed processors, and/or combinations thereof, forexample. The processor 312 may be a single device or a combination ofdevices, such as one or more devices associated with a network ordistributed processing. Any processing strategy may be used, such asmulti-processing, multi-tasking, parallel processing, and/or remoteprocessing. Processing may be local or remote and may be moved from oneprocessor to another processor. In certain embodiments, the computingdevice 300 is a multi-processor system and, thus, may include one ormore additional processors which are communicatively coupled to thecommunication network 310.

The processor 312 may be operable to execute logic and other computerreadable instructions encoded in one or more tangible media, such as thememory 314. As used herein, logic encoded in one or more tangible mediaincludes instructions which may be executable by the processor 312 or adifferent processor. The logic may be stored as part of software,hardware, integrated circuits, firmware, and/or micro-code, for example.The logic may be received from an external communication device via acommunication network such as the network 340. The processor 312 mayexecute the logic to perform the functions, acts, or tasks illustratedin the figures or described herein.

The memory 314 may be one or more tangible media, such as computerreadable storage media, for example. Computer readable storage media mayinclude various types of volatile and non-volatile storage media,including, for example, random access memory, read-only memory,programmable read-only memory, electrically programmable read-onlymemory, electrically erasable read-only memory, flash memory, anycombination thereof, or any other tangible data storage device. As usedherein, the term non-transitory or tangible computer readable medium isexpressly defined to include any type of computer readable medium and toexclude propagating signals. The memory 314 may include any desired typeof mass storage device including hard disk drives, optical media,magnetic tape or disk, etc.

The memory 314 may include one or more memory devices. For example, thememory 314 may include local memory, a mass storage device, volatilememory, non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof. The memory 314may be adjacent to, part of, programmed with, networked with, and/orremote from processor 312, so the data stored in the memory 314 may beretrieved and processed by the processor 312, for example. The memory314 may store instructions which are executable by the processor 312.The instructions may be executed to perform one or more of the acts orfunctions described herein or shown in the figures.

The memory 314 may store a trading application 330. In certainembodiments, the trading application 330 may be accessed from or storedin different locations. The processor 312 may access the tradingapplication 330 stored in the memory 314 and execute computer-readableinstructions included in the trading application 330.

In certain embodiments, during an installation process, the tradingapplication 330 may be transferred from the input device 318 and/or thenetwork 340 to the memory 314. When the computing device 300 is runningor preparing to run the trading application 330, the processor 312 mayretrieve the instructions from the memory 314 via the communicationnetwork 310.

V. Attention-Based Trading Display for Providing User-CentricInformation Updates

With particular reference to FIG. 3B, the output device 320 of thetrading device 300 may include a display unit 350 for displaying themarket data received from the exchange 130. The market data is deemed toinclude other information or data than the market data received directlyfrom the exchange 130. For example, the market data may also includedata generated by the trading device 300 (as a function of the marketdata received from the exchange 130 or otherwise), other information(received from other sources), and a user interface, which allows thetrader to prepare and communicate trade orders to the exchange 130.

In one embodiment, the display unit 350 is a single display device. Inanother embodiment, the display unit 350 includes a plurality of devicedevices. In the illustrated embodiment, the display unit 350 includesfirst, second, third and fourth display devices 350A, 350B, 350C, 350D,although the present invention is not limited to any number of displaydevices. In one aspect of the present invention, the display devices350A, 350B, 350C, 350D are treated as a single large display, whereelements (such as windows) displayed thereon are freely moveable acrossthe separate display devices. In other aspect of the present invention,the display devices 350A, 350B, 350C, 350D are treated as a single largedisplay, however, the position of elements or blocks of information arepredetermined and generally fixed (although the position may beconfigurable).

In one aspect of the present invention, the user's focus on a portion ofthe display unit 350. i.e., the portion of the display unit at which thetrader is currently looking, is detected and used to define a user focusarea on the display unit. In one embodiment, the user's focus isdetected using a tracking mechanism 360. In general, the trackingmechanism 360 may include one or more sensors which are configured todetect the trader's posture, the direction the trader is facing, and/oran area of the display unit at which the trader is currently looking. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the tracking mechanism 360 may be controlledby and/or the sensor information may be used by a gaze controlapplication 362 which runs on the trading device 110.

In aspect of the present invention, the tracking mechanism 360 includesat least one of a facial recognition system, an acoustic positionsystem, an electromagnetic interference sensing suite, a distancesensor, an imaging sensor and other suitable sensor(s). There are manycurrently existing technologies providing gaze detection and trackingfunctionality, and the tracking mechanism 360 can include any existingor later developed gaze detection and tracking systems. According to oneembodiment, the tracking mechanism 360 may capture the user's gaze, andthen provide the user's gaze position data to a gaze control application362.

Upon receiving the user's gaze position data, the gaze controlapplication 362 may first determine the user's gaze position coordinatesin relation to one of the monitors. When the gaze control application362 detects a user shifting his eyes away from one of the monitors or aportion of a display on one of the monitors (see below), the gazecontrol application 362 may provide a signal to a display manager 364which controls display of information on the display unit 350

The market data is separated into first and second portion. The portionof the data which is being displayed in the user focus area is definedas the first portion of the market data. The market data displayed inthe other portion of the display unit is defined as a second portion ofthe market data. The first portion of the data, which is displayed inthe user focus area, is updated based on a first priority and accordingto an associated first schedule. The second portion of the data, whichis displayed in a second area of the display, is updated based on asecond priority and according to an associated second schedule.

For instance, the first and second schedules may determine (1) how oftenthe display of the corresponding data is updated with on the displayunit (2) the period over which the data is coalesced (or condensed). Forexample, price information for a particular article or object mayinclude a parameter associated with the object current price, as well asa differential from a previous update or period of time. The first andsecond schedules may determine not only how often the display isupdated, but may include how often the differential is calculated (whichmay, for example, be done at the exchange 130 or at the individualtrading devices 110 shown in FIG. 1.)

With reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, an exemplary illustration of a useror trader's 410 field of view with respect to the display devices 350A,350B, 350C, 350D may be divided into separate sections. In theillustrated view, the full field of view of the trader 410 isrepresented by θ+β+θ. In general, the trader's field of view will beapproximately 180°, but in one embodiment may be between 160° and 200°.The total field of view may be further divided into sub-sections. Forexample, the trader's 410 field of foveal vision (the region of thevisual field where the user has the greatest visual acuity) is generallystraight ahead of the trader 410 in the direction in which the trader410 is looking. In the illustrated embodiment, the trader's field offoveal vision is defined by a, and may encompass approximately 2° of thetrader's field of view. The trader's 410 binocular vision or field ofview is defined by β and the trader's 410 peripheral vision is definedby the area outside of the trader's binocular vision, θ.

In general, the trading device 110 prioritizes the update of the data onthe display unit 350 based on a priority determined as a function ofwhere the data is located relative to where the trader 410 is looking.For example, if the trader's 410 foveal vision is focused on aparticular portion of the display unit 350, that portion of the displayunit 350 is defined as a user focus area (see below). The data in theuser focus area is given a first or the highest priority, i.e., the datais generally updated more frequently than data outside of the user focusarea. For example, any market data received from the exchange 130 may bedisplayed in real-time, i.e., when received. Additionally, if the marketdata received from the exchange 130 must be filtered, then this datawould be filtered and displayed before similar data is filtered and/ordisplayed outside of the user focus area.

In another aspect of the present invention, any market data which islocated in portions of the display unit 350 which fall within thetrader's binocular field of view or vision has a second priority, whileany market data which is located in the portions of the display unit 350which fall outside of the trader's binocular field of view, i.e., withthe trader's 410 peripheral view, is given a third priority. In general,the first priority is higher than the second priority and the secondpriority is higher than the third priority.

As the trader or user 410 turns (the head, torso or body), the trader's410 field of foveal view turns as well, and may focus on a differentportion of the display unit 350. This is illustrated in FIG. 4B, inwhich the field of foveal view is located on the fourth display device350D.

It should be noted that while the views in FIGS. 4A and 4B are top viewsand focus on horizontally (relative to the trader 410) dividing thedisplay unit 350, the present invention may also vertically discriminatethe trader's focus area and divide the display unit 350 horizontally andvertically.

In general, the first portion of the market data refers to any datawhich is being displayed in the current user focus area. The secondportion of the market data refers to any data which displayed in asecond area, i.e., any portion of the display unit 350 except for thecurrent user focus area.

In one aspect of the present invention, the trading device 110 modifieshow the data is displayed, for example, by modifying how the tradingapplication coalesces the market data before it is displayed. Forexample, in one embodiment of the present invention, the tradingapplication may freeze all updates to the displayed data in the secondarea, i.e., any portion of the display unit 350 except for the currentuser focus area. Updates to the second area (or portion thereof) wouldthen begin again when the user's focus returns to the second area (orportion thereof). In another embodiment, if particular market data isdisplayed as a change in data over a predetermined time period, then thepredetermined time period may be modified to be longer if the user isnot currently focused on the area of the display unit 350 in which theparticular market data is being displayed. Additionally, if particularmarket data is normally updated on a predetermined time cycle, theupdates may be performed on a longer time cycle when the user is notcurrently focused on the area of the display unit 350 in which theparticular market data is being displayed. In general, the tradeapplication will slow down updates, any computations, filtering orcoalescing of the received market data (prior to the data beingdisplayed) if the user is not currently focused on the area of thedisplay unit 350 in which the particular data is being displayed.

In another aspect of the present invention the gaze control application362 may alternatively, or additionally, use a predictive process topredict which area of the display unit 350 the trader 410 is most likelygoing to view later, or next, based on historical viewing data. Theoutput of the predictive process may also be used to prioritize whichareas of the display unit will be, and how they will be, updated.

With reference to FIGS. 5A-5D, the trading device 110 receives anddisplays the market data on the display unit 350. The trading device110, via the tracking mechanism 360 and the gaze control application362, is configured to detect a user focus area 502A of the display unit350.

With particular reference to FIG. 5A, for purposes of simplicity anddiscussion, the each of the first, second, third, and fourth displaydevices 350A, 350B, 350C, 350D are divided into two display areas ofroughly the same shape. It should be noted, however, that the displaydevices 350A, 350B, 350C, 350D, may be divided into a different numberof areas. The areas of the display devices 350A, 350B, 350C, 350D may bedynamic in terms of number and/or shape for each display device 350A,350B, 350C, 350D. In the illustrated embodiment, the gaze controlapplication 362 determines at which one of the areas of the displaydevices 350A, 350B, 350C, 350D the user is currently (or will belooking) and establishes that area as the user focus area 502A. In theexample of FIG. 5A, the right area of the first display device 350A hasbeen determined to be the current user focus area 502A. In this example,all other areas are designated as a second area 502B.

The trading device 110 assigns a first priority to the market datacurrently being displayed in the user focus area 502A and a secondpriority to the market data currently being displayed in the secondfocus area 502B. The first priority is higher than the second priority,such that the market data currently being displayed in the user focusarea 502A is updated and/or coalesced more frequently than the marketdata currently being displayed in the second are 502B.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the first and secondpriorities have an associated schedule, i.e., the first and secondschedule. For example, the first and second schedules may include afirst period which determines how often the area assigned the respectivepriority is updated and a second period which determines how often thedata assigned to the same area is updated (for instance, if the marketdata received from the exchange 130 is updated.

The trading device 110 is further configured to update the market datadisplayed in the user focus area as a function of the first priority andthe first schedule and update the market data displayed in the secondarea, as a function of the second priority and the associated secondschedule.

In another embodiment of the present invention, one or more of thesecond areas 502B may be assigned a different priority. In oneembodiment, the priority may be based on a relative distance from theuser focus area 502A. For example, the second areas 502B to theimmediate right and/or left of the user focus area 502A may be assignedthe second priority. Furthermore, the next area 502B (away from the userfocus area 502A) to the right or left may be assigned a third priority(with an associated schedule) and so on. In general, the second prioritywill be higher than the third priority.

With reference to FIGS. 5B-5D in another aspect of the presentinvention, the display unit 350, even if comprised of a plurality ofdisplay devices, is treated as a single display. The areas which may bedesignated as the user focus area are not fixed, but may be dynamicallydetermined by the gaze control application 362. In the exemplaryembodiments shown in FIGS. 5B-5D, five areas are shown. However, itshould be noted that this is for discussion purposes only, and that thedisplay unit 350 may contain any number of areas, one of which may bedesignated by the gaze control application 362 as the user focus area502A.

The market data may be displayed in defined windows (not shown) on thedisplay unit 350. The windows may be moved on the display unit 350,minimized, or resized. In one embodiment, the areas of the display unit350, i.e., the user focus area 502A and the second area 502B maycorrespond directly to and/or on one to one basis with a window.Alternatively, the areas may include or be associated with one or morewindows.

With particular reference to FIG. 5B, the control gaze application 362has determined that the trader 410 is currently (or will be) viewingcentral area, thus the central area is designated as the user focus area502A. In this example, the second areas are subdivided or designated asfirst sub-portion area 504, second sub-portion area 506, thirdsub-portion area 508, and further sub-portion area 510. Each of thesub-portion areas 504, 506, 508, 510 has an associated sub-portion ofthe market data which is being displayed therein.

In one aspect of the present invention, each sub-portion area isassigned as priority based on a relative distance from or proximity tothe user focus area 502A.

In one embodiment, the user focus area 502A is determined as a functionof the trader's foveal view. Any sub-portion which is within thetrader's binocular field of view is assigned a second priority. Anysub-portion which is within the trader's peripheral view is assigned athird priority.

In a second embodiment, any sub-portion are which is immediate adjacentthe user focus area 502A is assigned the second priority and (goingoutward) the next adjacent area is assigned the third priority. In theillustrated embodiment of FIG. 5B, the first and third sub-portion areas504, 508 would be assigned the second priority and the second and fourthsub-portion areas 506, 510 would be assigned the third priority. Thisprocess continues, dependent on the number of defined areas.

In a third embodiment, the priority could be determined as a directly asa function of the distance between the user focus area 502 a and thecorresponding sub-portion area. For example, the time between, or rateof, updates in a sub-portion area may be directly proportional to thedistance therebetween.

The rate of updating of the market data in at least one of the first andsecond portions may be dynamically modified to conserve computingresources.

Other priority schemes may be used without departing within the spiritof the invention.

In another aspect of the present invention, the trading device 110 maybe configured to highlight the current user focus area 502A. Forexample, the user focus area 502A may be highlighted by color and/ormotion, and/or flashing. The highlighting may be continuous while thearea remains the user focus area 502A or may last for a predetermined orvariable period of time.

In another aspect of the present invention, the trading device 110 maybe configured to provide an update indication to, or highlight, at leasta portion of the market data in the second portion of the data withinone of the sub-portions areas 502B, 504, 506, 508, 510. The updateindication is responsive to a change in the market data associated tothe at least a portion of the market data in the second portion. Inother words, if one of the areas other than the user focus area 502 hasan important update, the trading device 110 may highlight this area toattract the user or trader's attention. The update indication, orhighlight may be by color and/or motion and/or flashing.

For example, with particular reference to FIGS. 5C and 5D, the area inthe center of the display unit 350 has been designated as the user focusarea 502. However, the second sub-portion area 506 has an importantupdate, e.g., a change in the market exceeding a predetermined thresholdor some other event which may require the attention of the trader. Toattract the trader's attention, the gaze control application 362 and thedisplay manager 364 operate together to highlight the second sub-portionarea 506. In FIG. 5C, the second sub-portion area 506 is moved or“vibrated” to attract the trader's attention. In FIG. 5D, the secondsub-portion area 506 is highlight via color and/or flashing to attractthe trader's attention. The highlighting of the sub-portion area may be(1) for a predetermined time and/or (2) performed periodically until thetrader's attention focuses on the highlighted area.

With particular reference to FIG. 6, in another aspect of the presentinvention a method 600 of displaying information to a user is provided.The method includes a first step 602 of displaying market data on adisplay unit of a trading device and a second step 604 of detecting, atthe trading device, a user focus area of the display unit. The marketdata has a first portion and second portion. The user focus area isassociated with one of the first and second portions of the market dataand another one of the first and second portions of the market databeing associated with a second area of the display unit.

In a third step 606, a first priority is assigned to the one of thefirst and second portions of the market data and a second priority toanother one of the first and second portions of the market data. Thefirst priority being associated with the user focus area. The firstpriority is higher than the second priority.

In a fourth step 608, the market data in the one of the first and secondportions, which is being displayed the user focus area, is updated as afunction of the first priority and an associated first schedule. In afifth step 610, the market data in the another one of the first andsecond portions, which is being displayed in the second area, is updatedas a function of the second priority and an associated second schedule.

In another embodiment, upon the detection of a change in the user focusarea, a new priority may be assigned to a first portion, while not yetchanging any priority to a second or third portion. A user may beengaged in a quick flick of the eyes or rapid but short duration gazeshift to a different portion and then returning the user focus to theoriginal user focus area. In such a situation, and because there couldin some embodiments be a slight latency in accomplishing the change inpriority, it is beneficial to retain the original priority for a regionof the display for a preconfigured or dynamically determined amount oftime. After the amount of time has elapsed, then the priority of thatregion of the display may be changed as described in the previousembodiments.

In another embodiment, upon the detection of a change in user gaze orhead or torso orientation or position, a set of possible new user focusareas are identified (ones in the path of the currently detected motionof the user's gaze), and the priorities of those display regions areassigned a new priority prospectively in advance of those regionsactually becoming a user focus area. In this fashion, in embodiments inwhich there can be a small latency involved in changing a priority forupdates to a display region, the change in priority can be accomplishedearlier thus reducing or eliminating the effects of small latencies inoperation from user perception.

Some of the described figures depict example block diagrams, systems,and/or flow diagrams representative of methods that may be used toimplement all or part of certain embodiments. One or more of thecomponents, elements, blocks, and/or functionality of the example blockdiagrams, systems, and/or flow diagrams may be implemented alone or incombination in hardware, firmware, discrete logic, as a set of computerreadable instructions stored on a tangible computer readable medium,and/or any combinations thereof, for example.

The example block diagrams, systems, and/or flow diagrams may beimplemented using any combination of application specific integratedcircuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)), fieldprogrammable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), discrete logic, hardware, and/orfirmware, for example. Also, some or all of the example methods may beimplemented manually or in combination with the foregoing techniques,for example.

The example block diagrams, systems, and/or flow diagrams may beperformed using one or more processors, controllers, and/or otherprocessing devices, for example. For example, the examples may beimplemented using coded instructions, for example, computer readableinstructions, stored on a tangible computer readable medium. A tangiblecomputer readable medium may include various types of volatile andnon-volatile storage media, including, for example, random access memory(RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM),electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electricallyerasable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, a hard disk drive,optical media, magnetic tape, a file server, any other tangible datastorage device, or any combination thereof. The tangible computerreadable medium is non-transitory.

Further, although the example block diagrams, systems, and/or flowdiagrams are described above with reference to the figures, otherimplementations may be employed. For example, the order of execution ofthe components, elements, blocks, and/or functionality may be changedand/or some of the components, elements, blocks, and/or functionalitydescribed may be changed, eliminated, sub-divided, or combined.Additionally, any or all of the components, elements, blocks, and/orfunctionality may be performed sequentially and/or in parallel by, forexample, separate processing threads, processors, devices, discretelogic, and/or circuits.

While embodiments have been disclosed, various changes may be made andequivalents may be substituted. In addition, many modifications may bemade to adapt a particular situation or material. Therefore, it isintended that the disclosed technology not be limited to the particularembodiments disclosed, but will include all embodiments falling withinthe scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method including: receiving, by a tradingdevice, gaze position data for a user from a sensor of a trackingmechanism of the trading device, wherein the gaze position datarepresents the user's gaze with respect to a display unit of the tradingdevice; determining, by the trading device, a user focus area of thedisplay unit based on a field of foveal vision for the user and the gazeposition data, wherein the user focus area is associated with a firstportion of market data displayed by the display unit of the tradingdevice; determining, by the trading device, a plurality of sub-portionareas of the display unit, wherein the plurality of sub-portion areas donot include the user focus area, wherein each sub-portion area isassociated with a sub-portion of the market data displayed by thedisplay unit of the trading device; assigning, by the trading device, inresponse to determining the user focus area, a first priority to thefirst portion of the market data; assigning, by the trading device, inresponse to determining the plurality of sub-portion areas, a priorityto each sub-portion of the market data, wherein the first priority ishigher than the priorities of the sub-portions of the market data,wherein the priority of each sub-portion of the market data isdetermined as a function of a respective proximity of the correspondingsub-portion area to the user focus area; modifying, by the tradingdevice, a first rate of updating for the first portion of the marketdata prior to being displayed in the user focus area, wherein the firstrate of updating is modified based on the assigned first priority;modifying, by the trading device, a rate of updating for eachsub-portion of the market data prior to being displayed in thecorresponding sub-portion area, wherein the rate of updating for eachsub-portion of the market data is modified based on the correspondingassigned priority, wherein the first rate of updating is faster than therates of updating of the sub-portions of the market data; anddisplaying, by the trading device, the market data in the first portionand the market data in the sub-portions according to their respectivemodified rates of updating.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thetracking mechanism includes at least one of a facial recognition system,an acoustic position system, a distance sensor, and an imaging sensor.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the display unit includes a pluralityof display devices, wherein the user focus area and the plurality ofsub-portion areas are displayed on a same one of the display devices. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the display unit includes a plurality ofdisplay devices, wherein the user focus area and at least one of theplurality of sub-portion areas are displayed on different ones of thedisplay devices.
 5. The method of claim 1, further includinghighlighting, by the trading device, the user focus area on the displayunit.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the user focus area ishighlighted using at least one of color, motion, and flashing.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further including providing, by the trading device,an update indication for at least one sub-portion area, wherein theupdate indication is provided in response to a change in thecorresponding sub-portion of the market data.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the update indication is provided when a change in thecorresponding sub-portion of the market data exceeds a predeterminedthreshold.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the update indication is atleast one of color, motion, and flashing.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the priorities assigned to each sub-portion of the market datainclude a second priority and a third priority, wherein the secondpriority and the third priority are equal.